The present invention relates to a cassette changer for automatically changing (inserting and discharging) dubbing or like tape cassettes for magnetic recording-reproduction apparatus of the front loading type, such as a video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to briefly as "VTR").
Conventionally, the above-mentioned type of cassette changer is known as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-231454, which includes a cassette discharge path for allowing the recorded or reproduced cassette (hereinafter referred to as a "processed cassette"), discharged from a cassette inlet-outlet opening in front of the VTR, to slide down a slope, a cassette insertion path for horizontally moving and guiding another cassette for recording or reproduction (hereinafter referred to as a "new cassette") toward the cassette inlet-outlet opening, the insertion path intersecting the discharge path in front of the cassette inlet-outlet opening, and a separator pivotably supported at the intersection of the two paths, whereby the paths are changed over so that only one of them can communicate with the cassette inlet-outlet opening at the time of discharge or insertion of the cassette.
However, the conventional cassette changer requires at least a space for housing new cassettes in front of the separator (the side opposite to the cassette inlet-outlet opening side). Therefore, the changer becomes longer in the forward and rearward directions, that is, the changer is projected out of the VTR with an increased amount.
For this reason, in particular, when dubbing is performed in large quantities with a lot of VTRs arranged at the both sides of the passage, the cassette changers largely project into the passage. Consequently, this makes it difficult to perform a dubbing operation. Alternatively, this requires a widening of the passage by the projection. As a result of that, there is a problem that the space, in which the VTRs are provided, is reduced.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cassette changer for magnetic recording-reproduction apparatus with a minimized length in the forward and rearward directions thereof.